Being a citizen of Wisconsin

These photos and video are all from Aaron's phone, taken last night.

Throughout all of the protesting in Madison the past few weeks, I have felt like I'm not sure where I really belong in it. Just moving here and having everything erupt, I wanted to support the protesters, but I sorta felt like a visitor among people who really live here.

For sure, my annoyance at the way the situation is being handled has been growing, but even when Assembly Republicans rammed a vote through in 13 seconds, I didn't feel compelled to head to the capitol. (Actually, after watching the recordings of the vote, I just felt embarrassed for them and their behavior.)

But last night after dinner, when Aaron and I realized that a vote had gone through the Senate without the missing democrats, we dropped what we were going to do for the evening and walked to the capitol. Why? Not because the actions of taking "fiscal" items out of the bill was so ridiculous, but more because we finally got our Wisconsin driver's licenses. Since for all of my adult life I have been represented by a piece of plastic from Michigan, its weird to have the look and feel of my i.d. card totally change. It seems like proof that I am actually going to live here (not like in college when I lived in Illinois but hung onto my MI i.d. for four years).

I am somewhat disgusted and embarrassed to become a member of a state with such a government, but I finally feel like taking responsibility for it. After all, I will be voting in the next elections.

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